Short Interest in Unifi, Inc. (NYSE:UFI) Increases By 16.6%

Unifi, Inc. (NYSE:UFI) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 266,200 shares, an increase of 16.6% from the February 13th total of 228,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 64,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Unifi Stock Performance

UFI traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $4.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 72,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,926. The stock has a market cap of $91.30 million, a P/E ratio of -2.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.10. The company has a current ratio of 3.44, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Unifi has a twelve month low of $4.89 and a twelve month high of $7.91.

Unifi (NYSE:UFI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The textile maker reported ($0.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by ($0.31). Unifi had a negative net margin of 5.62% and a negative return on equity of 14.49%. Research analysts expect that Unifi will post -2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Unifi news, Director Kenneth G. Langone bought 16,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.55 per share, with a total value of $89,338.35. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,352,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,053,600. This represents a 0.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Unifi

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UFI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Unifi by 5,775.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,163 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 10,973 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Unifi by 778.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,479 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 10,172 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Unifi by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unifi in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $128,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Unifi by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,304 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.67% of the company’s stock.

Unifi Company Profile

Unifi, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of recycled and synthetic products in North America, Central America, South America, Asia, and Europe. Its polyester products include partially oriented yarn, textured, solution and package dyed, twisted, beamed, and draw wound yarns in virgin or recycled varieties; and nylon products comprise virgin or recycled textured, solution dyed, and spandex covered yarns.